When I feel ill last summer, I was given the opportunity to start Vedolizumab again. For the third time. At the time, I was given a ‘that speech’ about the risks and benefits of this medication and what it could do to me. You get this every time you start something new, it is a doctor’s prerogative to explain your treatment in full, with side effects, possibly risks and hopeful benefits. Being the third time around, and my third biological medication for my Crohn’s disease, I was told that this time we would not be stopping this medication. We would…

Have you ever wanted to just get through something, so you can start to feel better? That’s how I’ve felt about this pending infusion. I’m not one to rush through something, to just reach the end and say it’s over and done with, I appreciate my struggle and woes as much as I appreciate and celebrate my highs and all those good feelings that come with them. But these past couple of weeks, boy oh boy have I just wanted to fast forward. My final loading dose of Vedolizumab was due on October 16th, a few days shy of the…

Following my subtotal colectomy in August; my IBD team recommended returning to Vedolizumab. I had already tried Vedolizumab; receiving the three loading infusions last winter. This is where I was and how I was feeling as 2015 turned into 2016: “… So, it hasn’t gotten any worse, but the past year’s drug choices haven’t made it any better. I’m on a plato; and its going down, albeit slowly, over time. For me, the past 10 months haven’t been brilliant. They haven’t been the worse either, but I’ve noticed a definitely decrease in how well I feel in general, an increase…

It’s always abit weird to see how another hospital organise their clinics. This was our second visit to see Dr Moran – head of Digestive Disorders, specialising in clinical trials for IBD – to discuss my case. Since we last came in January, I’ve had two surgeries, three admissions, two MRI and a CT scan and a colonoscopy. Explaining the last six months was going to be fun. I took him through the last couple of weeks and explained where Good Hope had got me to – a failed right hemicolectomy in May which resulted in a reoccurrence of my…

So yesterday was my second appointment with the bowel surgeon at my hospital where my IBD is treated. After a positive GI clinic appointment last week – which you can ready about here – I was in two minds to expect a date for said surgery – a limited bowel resection – so soon; at the very least I was hoping to be put on the waiting list. This consultant’s wait was roughly 3 months when I inquired at our last appointment in January; if this was still true – unlikely given the upcoming doctors strikes – that would put…